Normal Kids
by Snowqueen0122
Summary: What if El was never captured by the government and was raised perfectly normal, but she never meet the boys until they were 17 years old? What if the events that happen didn't happen...yet. This is an AU set in a modern day high school. R&R
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey snowflakes. My friend told me that I should write this, so if it sucks… Don't blame me. Basically this story is about what would happen if El was never captured by the government and was raised perfectly normal, but never met the guys until they were in high school. Also this is set in our time period, so if things start to sound a little too modern… that's why. The event of the show get pushed back until the kids are 16 and 17. Don't shoot me about certain details, because trust me… I know. Anyway R &R.**

In the quiet town of Hawkins, Indiana, kids hustled and rushed on their way to school on a chilly, October morning. For one kid, it was a day he had been waiting for since his freshmen year.

"Mike, will you slow down? You're going to cause an accident." Dustin Henderson said from the passenger seat of his best friend's car.

"I'm sorry Dustin but, I really want to get to school. Today is the day I'm gonna ask her." Mike Wheeler said as he slowed down ever so slightly to turn a corner.

"Woah, woah, woah. You're going to ask Jamie Simcotts to Homecoming?" Lucas Sinclair asked from the backseat.

"You seem surprised." Mike said as he turned into the parking lot of the school.

"Yeah, considering you become a bumbling moron whenever you are within ten feet of her." Will Byers said from his place in the back with Lucas, then went back to his book.

"I do not." Mike defended himself as he pulled into a parking spot and turned off his car.

"Yeah you do. Remember the game we had to play against the Greenwood Woodmans. She said that we played great and you couldn't even utter a coherent sentence to her." Lucas pointed out as they got out of the car and started walking toward the school.

"I was just tired and out of breath. They gave us a good run for our money and I just wasn't ready to work that hard." Mike said as he opened his locker.

"Mike, catch." Mike turned at the sound of his name and caught the football that was thrown to him by a fellow teammate.

"Nice pass Ricky." Mike threw it back to him.

"You ready for the game next week?" Ricky asked as he walked up to the boys.

"Hell yeah. I was born ready." Dustin said, getting all pumped up. Ricky and Dustin did a chest bump and started whooping.

"Also, turns out Coach Boomer has a special assignment for the team so we have to meet in the gym instead of going to the field." Ricky said. The other boys, except Will, nodded in understanding. The bell rang to signal that class would be starting in 5 minutes.

"Gotta run, can't be late again." Ricky said as he ran down the hall, knocking over a few freshmen in the process.

"See you boys later." Lucas said as he walked toward his class.

"See ya at lunch." Will said as he went up the stairs and disappeared.

"You ready for a fun filled day in chemistry. It's a lab day." Dustin asked as Mike closed his locker and the two began to walk to class. Mike found it odd that Dustin knew that it was a lab day.

"Of course." Mike said with a large amount of sarcasm laced into his words. "How do you know today is a lab day?" Once they reach their classroom, they take the two seats in the way back of the room.

" I have memorized when it's a lab day so I can be ready to set something on fire." Mike laughed at his pyromaniac of a friend. "Look who it is." Dustin said as he subtly gestures to the door. Jamie Simcotts and two of her friends walked into the room and sat down toward the front of the class. "Now's your chance."

"Dude, relax. I've got a plan." Mike said as he glanced at Jamie and smiled.

"So that's your way of saying you have no idea what to do, when to ask her or how to ask her, right?" Dustin asked as he opened his backpack and pulled out his binder.

"Yeah, pretty much." Mike said as he ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"You are one hot mess." Dustin responded as the bell rang.

"Good morning class." The chemistry teacher, Mr. Bans, said as he walked into the room and put his stuff on his desk. The announcements came on and at that point no one was listening. "Guys, keep the voices down." Mr. Bans scolded as he opened his bag and pulled out his lesson plan.

"Good luck to our varsity football team as they take on our biggest rivals next week here at home." All of the football guys in the class started cheering. "Congratulations to our varsity girls volleyball team as they compete for the state championship this saturday, come out and support them. Also congratulations to the dance team in taking 1st place in team and 1st place in jazz at the state competition yesterday. They'll be going to nationals in three weeks, good luck ladies." After that no one paid attention. The ticked by slowly for the rest of the day until it was time for practice.

"What do you think this is about?" Dustin asked as the team stood outside the gym waiting for their coach in their practice clothes. Finally after a few minutes of waiting, their coach walked up to them.

"Alright… First I wanna say you guys played great last week but they were easy to beat. Next week we have our game against our biggest rivals and I want you guys to be in the best possible shape. Now we have the muscles but two things we lack are agility and balance… So I have arranged that you guys spend a week with the girls on the dance team." Suddenly all the boys started complaining.

"No way am I going to be dancing around in a tutu." And other comments like that were heard for the mass of boys.

"So you guys don't want to spend a week with a bunch of girls who can dance?" The coach said, hinting at what the guys were missing. "Who knows… Maybe some of you will get girlfriends out of this." At hearing that all of the guys rushed for the door trying to get in. Once all the boys were in the gym and sitting on the bleachers, the girls came for a different set of doors. They were all laughing and smiling with each other, but they stopped when they took notice of the boys. The girl's dance coach came in and smiled.

"Great! You guys are already changed." Coach Fara said as she walked over and shook hands with Coach Boomer.

"What are they doing here?" Max Mayfield asked.

"You didn't tell them?" Coach Boomer asked.

"I was about to but you guys were already sitting in here." Fara tried to save herself. She turned around and faced the confused faces of her girls. "The boys are going to be spending the week with us to increase their agility and balance." All the girls looked at their coach with blank looks, then shrugged their shoulder, dropped their bags on the bleachers and walked to the center of the gym in a big circle.

"How do you want to pair up?" Boomer asked Fara.

"Captains should be together, then the others can pick who they want to be with." Fara explained. "Who's your captain?"

"We didn't really assign one." Boomer admitted.

"Well, assign one. I'll go tell my girls." Fara walked to the large circle of girls and began talking to them.

"Alright boys… Who should be our…" Boomer didn't even get to finish the sentence before almost every boy shouted.

"MIKE!" The girls looked over with confused looks on their faces and the guys started to blush.

"Ok then. Have you guys thought about this before?" Boomer asked.

"We just all agree that Mike is the best option. We've always listened to him and it seems to work for us." Dustin explained.

"He's always known what's the right thing to do." Lucas chimed in.

"You ok with being captain Mike?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's fine." Mike said with a smile on his face. Boomer turned around and was about to talk when Fara cut him off.

"We know." Fara said. "We made a list for everyone else. When I call your name, go over there." Fara pointed to the other side of the gym. "Dustin and Maxine. Ricky and Sarah. Alan and Chelsea. David and Brittney. Chad and Kellie. Brandon and Hailey. Toby and Spencer. Caleb and Bethany. Jason and Marley. And finally Lucas and Alexis."

"What about Mike?" Boomer asked as he gestured to the lone boy.

"Our captain will be here any minute." Fara calmed the burly man down.

"Queen's home!" A shout rang through the gym as the girls ran for the door and crowded a single girl.

"That's our captain." Fara walked over and quickly talked to the girl. Mike couldn't see her very well because of the crowd of girls, but he could tell that she nodded at whatever her coach just told her. The girls parted enough so Mike could get a good look at his partner. She had long, curly brown hair that went down her back. She looked to be about 5'2" and that was pushing it. Mike had to admit, from what he saw, she was beautiful. The girls scattered, grabbed their partners and began to talk with them about everything and anything.

"You must be Mike." The girl said.

"Yeah, that's me." Mike stuttered out, suddenly getting really nervous. ' _Woah, where did that come from?'_

"I'm El. I'm your partner." El said with a smile on her face. "Let's get started."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys. I've gotten this from a few people and I'm gonna answer it now. The reason El still has that name and isn't Jane is because I wanted her to be different from her "rival" Jamie and making it a little harder for Mike to choose between them. Sorry that that was a bit of a spoiler but mehh. Also, Troy the bully is there but I forgot to write him in so you're gonna see him in this chapter and he's paired with a girl named Alice. Anyway enjoy, R &R. 3**

An hour and a half after they decided on a routine, the guys were sweating, huffing and puffing. The boys sat down on the bleachers, hoping to catch their breath while the girls stared at them with smirks on their faces.

"How do you girls do that?" Dustin asked as he sprayed himself in the face with his water bottle.

"Do what?" Max asked as she quickly put her hair into a braid.

"Dancing like that for that long and not be out of breath. You guys aren't even sweating." Lucas said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Years of practice. You guys will get use to it… hopefully." El said as she threw her hair into a ponytail. Mike stared at her as she began talking to one of her friends. ' _Well this could be a problem.'_ Mike thought. He shook his head to get rid of the thought, but he found himself swimming down that river again and again.

"Thanks for the workout ladies, but we're gonna go." Ricky said as he and some of the other guys tried to make a break for the door.

"Nice try, sparky. Sit back down." Ricky's partner, Sarah, said. Ricky mutter several curse words under his breath as he and the others slowly walked back to the bleachers and sat back down.

"That was just a warm up, boys." Max said. As if on cue, all the boys let out a loud, long groan that echoed off the walls of the gym. The girls laughed as they huddled up.

"Should we go easy on them?" Spencer asked.

"No way. This is too much fun. Let's abuse the little amount of power we have while we still have it." Max said.

"Easy, Mad Max." El tried to keep her best friend calm. " Let's at least let them catch their breath. Let's work on our routine for a little while. Agreed?"

"Agreed." All the girls said in unison, loudly enough for the boys to hear the word 'agreed'. They all turned to face the boys with serious looks on their faces.

"What now?" Dustin groaned.

"Nothing. You guys can chill out and try to catch your breath, while we work on our stuff not only for half time but for nationals." El explained.

"I thought nationals was a few weeks." Mike said.

"It is but there are a lot of things that go into choreographing and performing our routines." El said as she looked at her phone. "Shall we, ladies." El walked over to a plate on the wall and plugged her phone in.

"Hey E!" Max yelled from her position on the floor.

"What?"

"What time do you work tonight?"

"5:30 to 9:30." El answered as she pulled up her playlist and ran to her spot.

"We're coming to visit you." Max said.

"Ok." El pressed a button. "Hey Mike, catch." El threw him the remote and he caught it with one hand. Suddenly loud music filled the gym and a section of girls danced across the gym, followed by the second section and the third section after that. All the guys watched in awe as the girls danced, spun, and flipped around in perfect sync with each other and the music. The entire time they were dancing, Mike's eyes never left El. He was mesmerized by the way she moved and perfect time. At the very end of the song, they ended in perfect formation.

"That was wicked." Dustin exclaimed as he stood up and clapped. Everyone else got over their initial shock and started clapping too.

"That was nothing." Max said as she stood up from the floor. "That was just our warm up."

"Now we have to actually have to come up with our nationals routine." El said as she helped another girl up from the floor.

"That wasn't it." Lucas asked.

"That was our sectionals routine from last year. We like to do it as a warm up because it's so easy." A blonde haired girl named Kellie said.

"We leave all the choreography to El. The girl knows what she's doing when it comes to coming up with routines." A brunette named Spencer said as she took her hair out of it's ponytail and put it in a bun.

"I still need some time to choreograph some sections so we are going to wait on learning that, plus we still have to choreograph for the pep rally and halftime." El chimed in. "Yo, Max, what time is it?"

"4:30." Max read the time off her watch.

"We can cut it here. I gotta go home and get changed." All the girls grabbed their bags and began walking for the door when Dustin stopped them.

"Same time tomorrow?"

"Yep. Right in here at 2:30." Max said. The girls exited the gym, leaving the boys alone.

"I think this is the best idea coach has ever had." Lucas said.

"Agreed." Dustin said.

"Dude you're lucky. Max is really hot. I wish she was my partner." Lucas complained.

"Alexis is really cute too. Dude wanna switch?" Dustin offered the idea. Suddenly every boy was asking to switch partners with someone else.

"Wheeler is the luckiest one out of all of us. He's got that hot, sexy little thing for a dance partner. Hey Wheeler, wanna trade partners?" Troy sneered at Mike.

"In your dreams, Troy." Mike fumed.

"Lookie here, Wheeler is getting territorial over his little dance partner. You know, that just makes me want to steal her more." Troy stood up and jumped off the bleachers.

"At least I have enough of a personality that I don't have to steal from other people." Mike smiled.

"Watch it, frog face." Troy threatened as he got up in his face.

"Bring it." Mike threatened right back.

"Break it up boys." Lucas and Dustin tried to break up the two boys before someone started throwing punches.

"So how was your first day boys?" Coach Boomer asked as he entered the gym, completely unaware of what was going on. All the boys tried to look like nothing was happening and, not surprisingly, the coach bought it.

"It was great." Troy said as he smirked at Mike. Mike had to fight the urge to walk over and punch Troy in the face.

"Glad to hear. No go home and shower. You all stink." Coach said as he walked out of the gym. The boys all went their separate ways and walked to their cars.

"Can we come over?" Lucas asked Mike as they got to Mike's car.

"Yeah. Sure. Hey Will!" Mike yelled to get the attention of his friend who was at the other door. Will caught sight of them and began to walk toward them.

"How was practice?" Will asked as he got into the car and buckled his seatbelt.

"It was different. Coach has us working with the dance team all week to help with our agility and balance." Dustin explained.

"If you guys see El, tell her I say hi." Will said. At hearing this, Mike almost slammed on the breaks.

"You know El?" Mike asked as he looked in the rear view window.

"Yeah. She's in a lot of my AP classes. She's really smart. How do you know her?" Will asked as he leaned forward.

"She is his dance partner. They decided to pair captains together." Lucas explained to Will.

"She seems really cool." Mike said.

"Ohhh… Is Mikey starting to crush on his dance partner?" Dustin teased.

"I am not. I just think she seems pretty cool. Besides, how can I crush on her, I just met her today." Mike tried to save himself, but no one in that car was buying it.

"Nice attempt at a save." Dustin said as his phone vibrated.

"Who's that?"

"My mom. I texted her and told her I was going over to Mike's." Dustin quickly typed back a response and put his phone away. After driving for a little while and talking about random topics, the boys arrived at Mike's house. As they were getting out of the car, they noticed a group of girls in the yard of the house across the street.

"Hey, isn't that Max?" Mike asked, pointing at the fiery red haired girl.

"I think you're right. Let's go check." Lucas was already down the driveway with Dustin and Will right behind him. Mike hesitated for a moment but decided to follow his friends into what would probably be a disaster. As they got closer, Mike's heart began beating faster for no reason. Once they reached the driveway, they could definitely tell that the girls were some of the dance girls.

"Long time no see." Dustin said as he walked up the driveway toward the girls.

"It must be destiney." Alexis said with a smile on her face.

"What are you guys doing here?" Max asked as she leaned against the car.

"I live right there…" Mike pointed to his house.

"And we basically live there too, plus Mike drives us to and from school." Lucas said rubbing the back of his neck.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mike asked.

"El lives here and we are waiting for her because we are going to work with her just to bug her." Max said nonchalantly.

"El lives here?" Will asked. "I thought she lived in town."

"That's her mom's place. She's staying here at her dad's place for a little while." Max explained. "What is taking her so long… I wanna eat."

"Max, calm down." Spencer tried to calm the redhead down.

"There she is." Alexis said as El walked out from the garage. Mike stared at her. She had her hair in a high ponytail with a few stray pieces flying and was wearing a plain black shirt, dark jeans and white converse on her feet.

"She complaining again?" El asked as she approached. "Hey guys. Hey Will." El greeted with a smile gracing her features.

"Hey El." Will said with a smile on his face.

"Hey." Dustin and Lucas said at the same time. Mike was still in his trance but was brought out of it when Dustin nudged his side.

"Ohh. Hey El, how's it going?" Mike could feel the blush creeping up his neck.

"Since we saw each other fifteen minutes ago, I'd say pretty good." El said with a smirk on her face.

"Let's go. I wanna eat." Max said from inside the car.

"When did she… Never mind." El said as she let the subject drop.

"You guys wanna come?" Alexis offered as she got to her side of the car.

"Sure." Dustin said. "We'll follow you guys." Will, Lucas and Mike followed Dustin, got back in the car and followed El's car to a little diner about ten minutes from her house. They all stayed at the diner, did homework, talked and laughed until 9:00. Mike felt butterflies in his stomach every time El walked by. He could tell he was starting to crush on her.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey snowflakes. Lots of love to you guys. 3**

"Dude, would you calm down? Ever since we started this thing, you've been itchin to get to the gym everyday after school. I know you're starting to like El, but this is a little obsessive." Dustin scolded his friend as he raced to keep up with a speeding Mike.

"Sorry. I'm just freaking. After tomorrow, we won't be doing this anymore." Mike said sadly as they met Lucas by the stairs.

"Is he complaining that he won't be able to see his girlfriend anymore after tomorrow's rehearsal?" Lucas asked as he joined the pack.

"You know it." Dustin said as he looked at his panicked friend. "Dude, just because you won't be in rehearsals doesn't mean you won't be friends with her. Plus we still get to see them perform at the pep rally next week and they also perform at halftime for our game. You'll still see her." Dustin tried to calm him down. They met up with a few other guys and as they reached the gym, they could hear music blasting from the speakers. The girls were already in there warming up and stretching. Spencer took notice of the boys, nudged El, and gestured over to them with her head.

"Hey guys." El said as she turned the music down.

"So what are we doing today, boss lady?" Dustin asked as he leaned his shoulder on Mike.

"Something a little different." El smiled. "Max, why don't you explain." El turned to the smirking redhead who cracked her knuckles.

"Gladly." Max said with a dark smile on her face. "Listen up maggots!" She yelled causing most of the guys to jump.

"Easy, fireball." El scolded her best friend.

"You never let me have any fun." Max groaned as she playfully glared at her dark haired friend. "Anyway, we wanna see what you guys have learned. We'll give you an hour to come up with a thirty second routine to show us what you've learned."

"I'm sorry, you wanna run that by me again?" Lucas said with a terrified look on his face. Many of the other guys had similar looks on their faces and that caused the group of girls to laugh hysterically.

"You guys are acting like this is torture." Max said as she leaned against El to support herself while she wipes a tear away.

"For us it is. We are football players not prima ballerinas. We only did this because coach made us and most of the guys here thought they were gonna get laid." Troy said as he took a step toward the girls.

"Don't you think we know that. We don't expect you guys to be good. We just expect you to be better than when you started this." Alexis said.

"Chop chop boys. Time is ticking." Max said as she walked over to El and the two engaged in a conversation. Mike looks at El and his face becomes a little pinker.

"Also you should know that you guys are performing with us at the pep rally and halftime, so you guys are going to be coming here next week too." El said.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Troy groaned. "It's one thing to do this thing in front of you girls, but it's a completely different ball park when you bring the entire school into it. We would be committing social suicide."

"Are." El corrected him.

"What?" Troy asked.

"You are committing social suicide. Your coach is about to come in here and tell you that." El said.

"How do you…" Dustin started saying but was cut off by Coach Boomer's voice as he walked into the gym.

"Great news guys. You are performing with the girls at the homecoming pep rally next friday and at half time at our game on friday night. If any of you refuse to perform, then don't bother coming to anymore practices." Coach said. The team looked at their coach in confusion. "You'll be kicked off the team." The coach decided to elaborate a little more. "Carry on." The coach walked out.

"How did you know he was going to say that?" Mike asked.

"My coach told me this morning and I could see your coach's reflection in the window." El explained as she threw her hair up in a ponytail and took a few steps away from the group. "What do you say ladies?" All the girls nodded in agreement and they all started doing front flips across the gym and away from the guys.

"Time's running out. Hop to it." Max yelled as she came to a stop on the other side of the gym and started talking with some of the other girls. The girls left the guys alone while they talked about what they wanted to do.

"There is no way I'm dancing like an idiot in front of the entire school. No way." Troy said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well then, you are off the team and you can say goodbye to any and all football scholarships you would receive." Lucas pointed out.

"How do you know I'd even get a scholarship?" Troy asked with a scowl on his face.

"Because as much as it pains me to say, and believe me it really, really does, you are a pretty good linebacker." Lucas admitted.

"And I guess, you aren't the worst receiver on the planet." Troy said quietly. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Oh my God. Hanging out with these girls is turning us into girls." Troy yelled as he began waving his hands around like a madman. Dustin took the initiative and decided to _**literally**_ slap some sense into Troy. The sound of the slap echoed off the walls of the gym and caught the attention of the girls.

"Get a grip, Troy." Dustin said. Music started playing and at first the guys figured the girls were stretching some more.

"No abuse over there." Max yelled from her position in the gym. The guys looked over and saw the girls working on their kicking lines. In perfect time with the music, the first and third line kicked, and the second and fourth lines kicked opposite of them. After a few more minutes, El broke off from her line, front and center, and turned off the music. Mike stared at her as she started to explain something to her team.

"Mike, why is your neck bright red?" Dustin asked as he nudged his best friend. Mike's hand flew up to his neck, trying to cover the blush.

"No reason. Come on, let's figure out this routine." The guys started to talk about what things they've seen the girls do in their routines, then they realize that they can't do any of that.

"It's official. We are hopeless." Lucas said as he threw his hands up in the air.

"Why don't we ask the girls for some help?" A boy named, Toby, offered. The guys seemed to ponder the idea for a moment.

"It seems we have no other choice." Ricky hangs his head as all the boys walk over to the girls with their tails between their legs, metaphorically of course.

"Can we help you?" Kellie said as she leaned her arm on El's shoulder. All the girls were standing either with their arms crossed over their chests or with their hands on their hips. The guys had to admit that they looked pretty intimidating.

"We could use some advice and some ideas." Dustin said as he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. The guys refused to look the girls in the eyes and this caused the girls to laugh.

"Who had 45 mins?" El asked.

"Oh I did." A blonde girl named Alice raised her hand with a smile on her face.

"What is happening?" Dustin said as he tried to comprehend what was happening around him.

"We took bets on how long it would take for you guys to ask us for help." Spencer said with a smirk gracing her features.

"Be grateful that Alice was that generous." Max said. "I said about 30 seconds. I thought that the second we announced what you would be doing, you guys would be running at us, begging for help."

"Rude." Dustin said.

"We'll help you. Grab your partners, boys." El said as the guys ran for different girls rather than their actual partners. Troy and Mike both reached for El, but luckily Mike was a touch faster. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him. She looks up at him in complete shock and coughed to get him to loosen his grip on her. "Anyway." She said as she slowly got out of Mike's grip, simply because Mike didn't want to let go. "What routine are we thinking?"

"Well it **is** almost halloween…" Alexis said with a suggestive tone in her voice and look on her face. All the girls start to laugh as they get into position in the middle of the gym.

"Let's get it started."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey snowflakes. Thanks for the support. Kisses. Also R &R.**

After working on a routine and workshopping a few things, everyone decided to call it quits and go home. Max and El were grabbing their bags when Mike came over to them.

"Hey El, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked.

"Sure." She gave Max her car keys and said that she'll meet her in the car. "What's up? You look worried." El noted as she turned back to see that Mike was a little out of it.

"I need some advice." He admitted as he sat down on the bleachers. El walked over and sat next to him.

"About?" El asked as she put her bag down and grabbed her water bottle from it.

"Ok, so there's this girl that I wanna ask to homecoming but she intimidates the hell out of me and I'm terrified that she'll say no or she'll say she already has a date and this girl is just so amazing and beautiful and talented and smart and I don't know what to do." Mike rambled on, his voice became a whole octave higher.

"Woah, calm down Mike." She put her hand on his shoulder to try and calm the frantic boy down. "She would have to be insane to say no, but you can't really do much if she already has a date considering that homecoming is Saturday and the game is tomorrow." El told him honestly. "But my advice is to find out what she likes and do something creative that is connected to her interest. Do I know her?" El asked.

"Yeah, I think you would." Mike said with a smile on his face. Suddenly El's phone started ringing.

"Max is getting impatient. I'll see you tomorrow." El said as she got up and walked out the door. "And my advice… Ask her tomorrow." El poked her head back in and smiled at him. Mike chuckled and walked to his car.

"Finally! Where have you been?" Lucas asked as Mike got into his car.

"I had to talk to El about something." Mike said nonchalantly as he started the car and started to drive back to his house.

"Did you finally ask her out?" Will asked as he leaned forward to be involved in the conversation.

"I don't like El. End of story. Tomorrow I'm asking Jamie to homecoming and that'll be that. Plus, I need you guys to help me out tomorrow." Mike said as he pulled into driveway and got out of the car. Just as Lucas and Will closed their doors, a car pulled out of El's driveway and disappeared down the road.

"Looks like El's working tonight." Will said as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and walked into Mike's house like he owned it. Mike lingered outside for a moment before smiling to himself and walking inside.

"So what did you have in mind for tomorrow?" Dustin asked as he flung himself on the couch and made himself comfortable.

"I was thinking we could get to school early and…" Mike started to say, but Lucas cut him off.

"How early we talking?" Lucas asked.

"Well school starts at 8 but I know Jamie and she gets to school by 7:30 so I'm thinking like 7:15." Mike explained.

"That's pushing it and that's really creepy that you know she gets there at 7:30, but ok." Lucas said as he leaned back into his chair.

"Anyway… I was thinking that we could get to school early and decorate her locker, then I'll ask her to homecoming." Mike said with a big smile on his face.

"That's actually not a bad plan." Dustin said.

"So, we need to quickly run to hobby lobby and get the stuff I'll need to decorate." The boys all nodded and ran out to hobby lobby. They came back with a crap ton of supplies and dumped it in Mike's room before they headed home. The more Mike looked at the pile of supplies, the more nervous and excited he got. At school the next day Jamie and a friend of hers were walking to Jamie's locker in their cheer uniforms and talking about random topics. when they noticed Jamie's locker.

"Oh my God! This is amazing." Jamie said as she looked at her locker completely decked out in red and white streamers and pom poms. She then noticed that HOCO was written all over her locker.

"So?" Mike said from behind her. She turned around and saw him standing there with a bouquet of red and white roses.

"Yes." She smiled as she hugged Mike and laughed. Everyone that was in that hallway was cheering, clapping and even taking pictures of the happy couple. By lunch, everyone was talking about how the prettiest girl in school was going to homecoming with the hottest guy in school.

"El?" El lifted her head to see Max, Alexis and Spencer sit with her at her table. "You ok, honey?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" El asked, genuinely confused about why her friends were so timid around her.

"Didn't you hear that Mike and Jamie are going to homecoming together?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah. That's all anyone will talk about. Not gonna lie, it's getting pretty annoying." El said as she shook her head and closed her book.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Alexis said as she put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" El puzzled.

"Come on, we know you like Mike and it was pretty clear that he was starting to have something for you." Max said.

"I was just being a friend. Plus I'm the one that gave advice on how to ask Jamie." El said as she ran her fingers through her hair .

"Is that what he wanted to talk to you about yesterday after practice?" Max questioned as she took a sip from her water. El nodded. The bell rang, signaling that there was five minutes till lunch was over so the girls decided to leave and start getting ready for their performance at the rally. All the girls were applying makeup and doing each other's hair in the dressing room when the guys walked in.

"You guys ready?" Max asked as she helped Spencer with her hair.

"Ready to look like total idiots? No." Troy said as he crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.

"Don't be such a baby." El said coldly as she looked in the mirror and applied some eyeliner.

"Hey El…" Mike started as he came over and stood behind her. "I just wanna say thanks, your advice really worked." He smiled at her.

"Glad I was able to help." El smiled as she caped the eyeliner and reached for the mascara.

"So you going to the homecoming dance?" He asked as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"There's really no reason for me to go. Max isn't going, none of the others are going and so I picked up an extra shift at work." El admitted as she put away her mascara.

"El! There's someone at the door for you." Alexis yelled and went back to doing her makeup. El stood up and walked out the. Once she was out, she was met with the face of Jamie.

"You must be El…" Jamie trailed off as she looked El up and down. "So listen to me and listen to me good. Mike is mine. Just because you're dancing with him doesn't mean he actually likes you. Frankly, how could any guy like you? Just enjoy the time you get to spend with him because I can personally guarantee that once this is over, he will never speak to you again. And if I see you even look in his general direction, I will make your life a living hell. Good luck." She walked away with a sickly sweet, fake smile on her face. El stood there in shock at what Jamie had just said to her. She choked back the tears and took a deep breath.

"Hey, E. We're starting soon." Max came out to find her. El nodded and walked back in. The performance went off without a hitch aside from Jamie glaring at El the entire time and faking an innocent smile whenever Mike looked her way. After the performance, the girls went into the dressing room to get out of their performance gear, and Max noticed El's sudden behavior. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." El said as she packed up her gear and walked out without looking at anyone. The rally was over and everyone rushed to their lockers to go home. Mike tried to look for El and he eventually found her by her locker putting books in her bag.

"Hey El, I just wanted to say that…" Mike started to say, but El cut him off by slamming her locker shut and walking away without even looking at him. "El!?" Mike yelled down the hall, but she didn't turn back.

"Hey babe." Jamie said as she came over to him, kissed his cheek, and took his hand. He tried to focus on what Jamie was saying but one thing continued to plague his mind, well more of one person plagued his mind. ' _What happened between us?'_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys… New chapter. Kisses.**

"I don't know what I did. We were on our way to becoming good friends, now she won't even look at me." Mike said as he adjusted his football gear. He and Lucas were in the locker room, getting ready to go to the field.

"Maybe it wasn't something you said, but something you did." Lucas suggested as he slipped his jersey over his padding and smoothed it out.

"What are you getting at, Lucas?" Mike asked as he took a swig of water from his plastic water bottle.

"I saw the way she was with you in the parking lot when we came in. She looked over and I could see something in her eyes. It looked like her heart was breaking, then Jamie showed up, she was all over you and kissing you and El didn't look over again, at all." Lucas told him what he had observed.

"You think she's jealous of Jamie?" Mike asked as he sat down on the bench.

"Try the other way around." Lucas was still hinting at what was really happening.

"Jamie would never be jealous of El, I mean how can you compare the two? They are both so different." Mike stated.

"Are they?" When Mike gave him the puzzled look, lucas decided to elaborate. "They both look alike, both in similar activities, both smart. The only big difference between them is personality." Lucas said.

"What do you mean? Jamie has a great personality." Mike tried to defend his girl.

"Dude, I never said which one has the good personality and which one didn't have a personality at all." Lucas smirked as he caught Mike in the web he was weaving since that conversation began.

"That was very clever…" Mike smirked. "Never do it again."

"But in all honesty, I think you should try to talk to El and have her tell you what's going on." Lucas put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"How am I going to talk to her when she won't even look at me?" Mike asked.

"You know the girls pass a janitor's closet on their way from the dressing rooms to the field and El is always the last one out." Mike gave him a look that basically asked Lucas how he knew all of that. "I notice things. Now go talk to her." Mike ran out of the locker room and ran straight to the closet to wait for the girls. He didn't have to wait long. His head perked up when he heard a crowd of girls outside the door and someone asked the question he was wanting to know the answer to.

"Hey where's El?" Someone asked.

"She'll be out, she just needs a second alone." Mike recognized Max's voice. The footsteps disappeared down the hall and things grew deadly silent. Then the sound of tiny footsteps were heard. Without thinking, Mike opened the door, stuck his hand out, grabbed the wrist of the person, yanked them into the closet, and locked the door.

"What the hell, Mike? You gave me a heart attack." El said.

"I want to talk to you and this is the only way I can make sure you actually talk to me instead of just ignore me like you have since the rally. I've called you and texted you and you haven't returned any of it." Mike said as he took a step back, well half step, it's a tiny closet.

"Mike, I really don't want to do this right now." El tried to make her way to the door, but was stopped when Mike stepped in front of her.

"Well, to bad. El we were becoming really close. What happened between us? Whatever it is, I promise you that it will not come between us." Mike said as he placed his hand on her cheek to force her to look at him. "I _really_ don't want anything to come between us." In a snap decision, Mike leaned forward and placed his lips on hers. It was as if several fireworks went off in both of their bodies. El's arms snaked around his neck and her hands tangled themselves in his dark locks. Mike's arm's wound around her waist and pulled her so close to his body that nothing could pass between them. El was the first one to snap into her senses. She gasped, let go of Mike and ran out of the closet, leaving Mike dumbfounded in the closet.

"So how'd it go?" Lucas asked as Mike met him by the bench. They still had about fifteen minutes before the game started so the two boys started talking.

"I did something incredibly stupid." Mike said as he ran his fingers through his hair and groaned.

"What did you do?" Lucas whispered to him.

"I may or may not have kissed her." Saying the word 'kiss', in the context of El, felt so right to him.

"You kissed her!?" Lucas whisper shouted. "Dude when I said talk to her, I didn't mean try to get with her." Lucas facepalmed and sighed at the unfortunate lucky of his friend.

"I didn't mean to. Something came over me and I couldn't stop myself. God, did I just screw everything up?" Mike asked as he looked at the field where his own teammates and the other team was warming up.

"Pretty massively." Lucas put his hand and Mike's shoulder. "We'll fix it. Talk to her after the game."

"SHIT!" Mike yelled, scaring Lucas so much that he flew off the bench like it burned his ass. "How the hell am I supposed to play a good game when I know she's here watching?" Suddenly the girls came onto the field and began to talk with each other and some of the football guys. "Dude, help me." Lucas nodded and spotted El with Max.

"Let's go, dude." Mike looked up at him confused, however he didn't have time to react because Lucas pulled him up from the bench and dragged him over to the girls. "Hey Max. Hey El." Lucas greeted loudly. Both of the girls turned around, smiling. However, El's smile faltered a little when she saw that Mike was with him. Lucas' loud greeting also caught the attention of some of the girls on the cheer team, including Jamie. El looked over and made eye contact with Jamie. The girl looked like she was ready to strangle El with her bare hands.

"Well good luck out there guys. Max, can I talk to you?" El didn't wait for a response from Max, before she dragged her to their team by her arm.

"You really screwed up, buddy." Lucas patted his shoulder. Suddenly a loud air horn blew, signaling that the game was about to begin and that the guys better get their asses on the field. This was going to be an interesting game.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys… I'm just cranking out chapters for this story so sorry if I get annoying.**

The first half of the game was coming to an end and Hawkins High was winning 48 to 7. The cheerleaders cheered and the marching band was playing loudly trying to ramp up the crowd while the dance team got ready to walk onto the field. The football guys came out, stood with their partners and waited for them to be announced.

"Hey babe. Good luck." Jamie said as she came over and basically jumped into Mike's arms, kissing him. Max could actually see the discomfort and annoyance in El's eyes and decided to intervene for her friend's sake, but Coach Fara beat her to the punch.

"This area is strictly for dance team and football players. Please leave." She said strictly and glared down Jamie with annoyance. Jamie returned the glare but obeyed and walked back to her squad but not before blowing a kiss at Mike and glaring at El, who returned it with just as much hate and anger. Suddenly the set of stadium lights that was above where the dancers and football players were standing blew out, sending sparks and glass all over them and the scoreboards and other lights started to flicker wildly. Mike immediately and swiftly put his arm and body over El to protect her from the glass shards that rained from the smoking lights.

"We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties. Please stay calm and give us a moment." The voice said over the microphone. "What the hell happened?!" The announcer's voice went from calm and steady to frantic and panic.

"Hal, turn off the mic." Another voice said a little further away from the mic.

"SHIT!" Then the mic cut off with a loud feedback, causing everyone to cover their ears, wince and cringe.

"You ok?" Max asked as she came over to El.

"Yeah. I'm ok." El said as she walked away from Mike and met her halfway. Max was about to speak when a very high pitched sound rang out causing everyone to cringe and cover their ears again.

"Babe, are you ok?" Jamie screeched as she ran for Mike, push El and Max and a few other dancers to the ground in the process. Lucas shook his head at the dramatic cheerleader and helped both of Max and El get back onto their feet.

"You guys ok?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, we're good." El said as she rubbed her temple.

"El, are you sure you're ok? You look really tired." Max said as she put a hand to her friend's forehead.

"Max, I'm fine." El said as she playfully pushed Max's hand away.

"No your not." Lucas said.

"What are you talking about?" El asked in confusion. She was pretty sure she was feeling alright.

"Your nose is bleeding." Lucas said. Max quickly ran, grabbed the tissues from her purse and gave them to El. Blood flowed out of her nose and over her lip in a thick and heavy stream of red. El's vision began to blur and the world started to get a little darker. Everyone's voices sounded like they were underwater and their voices were getting quieter and quieter. Finally she felt like she was floating on air and all of the muscles in her petite little body gave out all at once.

"El!" Max yelled as El crumbled to the ground. This caught the attention of all of the dancers and their partners. Mike was the one to catch her before she hit the ground and was one of the first people to be by her side when the paramedics arrived, which pissed Jamie off to no end. If looks could kill, El would be six feet under. "Someone call an ambulance." The next few minutes are complete chaos as paramedics flood the scene and shoo everyone away from the unconscious girl. Coach Fara came up to Max and asked her what happened.

"One minute she was fine and the next, her nose was bleeding and she dropped." Max said while taking a shaky breath. Coach Fara and Lucas tried to calm Max down while the paramedics put El on a stretcher and wheeled her toward the ambulance. After the ambulance drove away and the rest of the game was announced as canceled, Max walked to her car with Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will all right behind her, trying to keep up.

"Max, calm down." Lucas said as he put his hand on her car door to prevent her from getting in her car.

"My best friend just got carted away in an ambulance and you're telling me to calm down!" Max was fuming.

"I'm saying, let's be smart. There's not much we can do at the hospital except wait in the waiting room." Lucas tried to reason with the emotional girl.

"That's good enough for me." Max pushed his hand away, got in her car, and drove away leaving the boys alone.

"Are we gonna follow her to the hospital?" Dustin asked, already knowing the answer and already walking toward Mike's car.

"Why are you asking if you already know the answer?" Lucas asked as he followed his curly haired friend.

"Just seemed like the polite thing to do." Dustin said as he got into the car and waited for his friends. The other just looked at each other and started walking toward the car, only to be stopped by Jamie and some of her friends.

"We are going back to Ashley's house for a party, you boys wanna come?" Jamie asked as she instinctively wrapped herself around Mike.

"Can't. We've got some place to be." Lucas answered pulling Mike away from Jamie.

"And where is that exactly?" Jamie asked, looking very offended that they thought that something else was more important than her and her needs.

"It's really none of your business. We've gotta go." Lucas emphasised the last sentence to get his point across to Mike. Without another word, the other boys got in the car and drove to the only hospital in town. Once at the hospital, they met up with Max, Spencer and Alexis in the waiting room. "Any word?" Lucas asked as Max, unexpectedly, threw her arms around him and started crying.

"What happened?" Mike asked in worry.

"El's in a coma."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys… You know the drill… Kisses.**

"Coma." Mike whispered as he sat down and tried to comprehend what Max had just said. "What's gonna happen now?"

"I don't know. I called her dad and he's on his way, but her mom is out of town for the next month." Max said as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. Lucas sat down next to her and tried to calm her down. Mike stood up and ran his hands through his hair as he tried to keep himself calm, but he was slowly losing it. "What's wrong, Mike?" Max asked as she noticed Mike's odd behavior.

"I'm just worried." Mike tried to cover up the real reason we was so upset and walked away, but Lucas knew his friend better. Lucas looked and saw Dustin trying to comfort Alexis and Will was trying to calm Spencer down. Mike was alone.

"I'll be right back." Lucas whispered to Max who nodded. Lucas went to where Mike had disappeared to and what he saw just confirmed what Lucas knew. There was a hole in the wall and Mike's hand was bleeding. "You ok?"

"No." Mike simply answered.

"Why are you so upset?" Lucas said calmly.

"Because El doesn't deserve this. She should be dancing her heart out. She should be awake and here. With Max and Alexis and Spencer and her team and especially with…" Mike didn't finish that sentence.

"With you." Lucas finished for him. Mike looked at him and nodded. "Are you finally coming to your senses?" Lucas asked as he put a hand on Mike's shoulder.

"About?" Mike asked.

"Dude just admit that you like El." Lucas said. Then he goes off on a long-winded rant about how Mike should just admit to El that he likes her.

"I don't." Mike said quietly.

"I'm sorry… What was that?" Lucas asked for clarification.

"I don't like El." Mike stated, monocromadically. Lucas stares at his friend in shock over what he just heard from him. Suddenly Lucas starts yelling at him about how he is lying to himself, but Mike cuts him off. "I don't like El because it's more than that…" That shut Lucas up immediately. "I'm in love with her." Mike whispered. "I have never felt like this before. But absence makes the heart grow fonder." Lucas looked at Mike with a confused look on his face so Mike decided to elaborate more. "The time she completely ignored me, made me realize that it really didn't feel right with her not in my life."

"Dude she ignored you for three hours and you're acting like she has been ignoring you for weeks. Plus you only met her on monday and you're acting like she's been in your life since the beginning." Lucas tried to understand what Mike was saying.

"But we were talking and texting for hours after school and we would talk in between classes and I realized that my life never really felt complete until she stepped into it. I also realized that Jamie could never make me feel the way El does. To Jamie and to most of the school, I'm just the quarterback… the star. But with El, I felt like an actual person. I felt like I could really be me and tell her things I've never told anyone." Mike sighed as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Lucas was about to say something, but was interrupted when Max came running around the corner and stopped in front of them.

"The doctor says we can see El." Max and Mike took off toward the room the doctor told them housed their friend. When they reached the room, they all stopped in their tracks at how bad El looked. Max, Alexis, and Spencer took up one side and the boys took up the other. "Can she hear us?" Max asked the doctor, with tears in her eyes.

"It's highly unlikely, but it might actually help her if you talk to her a little. Try to urge her out of this." The doctor said with a sad look on his face.

"What exactly put her in the coma?" Mike asked as he took El's hand in his.

"It was a combination of things. It was caused mostly by shock and a small amount of internal bleeding, but there was something weird." The doctor said as he looked at the clipboard.

"Weird… How?" Max questioned as she wiped away the tear that was running down her cheek.

"There was a large amount of date rape in her system. I'm surprised she was standing for as long as she was." The doctor said. Anger and rage boiled within all of them. Somebody drugged El at the game. The doctor's pager went off and he exited the room.

"Hey El." Max said in a quiet voice. "It's Max, Alexis and Spencer. You need to fight this. We need our captain and sister. Please come out of this."

"What the hell happened?" A deep voice said from the door. Everyone turned to see a man clad in a police uniform. "What happened to my daughter?" Jim Hopper asked as he took a few steps into the room, toward the kids. "Max?" At the sound of her name, Max started sobbing. He walked over to the red-headed girl and hugged her.

"The doctor said that she went into shock and had a small amount of internal bleeding but it was shown that some drugged El with date rape." Max told him through her sobs.

"Someone drugged my daughter?" Everyone could tell that Hopper was getting pissed and he was ready to kill whoever the perp was. "Any ideas on who did it?" Everyone shook their heads. Jim walked over to his daughter, took her hand and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, Ellie. I'll find the bastard who did this to you and nail his ass to the wall." All of the kids take a few steps back and let the man have a few moments with his daughter. After ten minutes of utter silence, the chief cleared his throat and stood up. "Are you guys gonna stay here?" Jim asked the girls. All of them nodded and took their places back by El's bed. "Good because I am going to go back to the school with a drug team and try to find who did this." He started to walk for the door, then stopped. Jim then took notice of the boys that were standing in the corner. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Mike Wheeler. This is Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Will Byers. We are friends of El." Mike said, a little intimidated by the presence of this man.

"Wheeler. You and your family live across the street from me." Hopper noted.

"I recently found that out for myself, sir." Mike said, hopefully the chief took it as a sign of respect and not mockery.

"El talked a lot about you while you guys were working with the dance team. She said that you were a respectful and kind boy." Hopper said. All Mike could do was blush at what El had said. "Take good care of her, kid." Hopper said, with the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. He walked out the door and talked with the doctor for a moment then he left.

"What just happened?" Mike asked as he let out the breath he's been holding since the chief came in.

"I think the chief just gave you permission to watch after his daughter." Will said. The boys shook off the odd feeling the chief just gave them and walked over to the other side of El's bed. Mike took El's tiny, cold hand in his and just held it.

"We'll leave you two alone for a few minutes." Lucas said, breaking the tension-filled silence. Mike only nodded and never took his eyes off El while everyone shuffled out of the room.

"Please El. You need to wake up. You can't leave me. I never told you this and I wish I had earlier but, I love you El." He whispered the last part as he planted a kiss on El's forehead. He left his lips on her head as a tear fell from his closed eye and landed on her cheek. Without him knowing, El's eyes fluttered open and she stared at the boy who was kissing her forehead. She smiled and brought her hand up to tangle it in his dark hair. At feeling the hand on his hand, Mike started to pull up but stopped when he noticed that El was staring back at him. "El?"

"Hey." She said quietly with her smile growing even more. Mike couldn't say anything.

"Do you want me to go get the others?" Mike asked as he started to turn away, toward the door.

"Not right now." He nodded and went to sit on the bed, but El stopped him.

"What about your girlfriend?" El said with a frown on her face.

"I'm breaking up with her. I realized that she isn't the one for me. I like someone else." Mike said as he pulled out his phone and dialed Jamie's number. "Hey Jamie. How's the party?... Really? That's very interesting." Mike said while making a face that caused El to laugh. "Listen. This isn't really working out between us. I realized that I need an actual person, not a sex toy, so do me a favor and lose my number." Mike hung up, blocked her number from his phone and blocked her on all of his social media.

"So… who is this 'someone else'?" She asked with a smirk gracing her tired features. Mike smiled and pretended to think about the best way to describe this 'someone else.'

"She's amazing. She beautiful, smart, funny, kind, talented and just all around an amazing person." Mike said. He looked at El, who had a light pink blush creeping across her cheeks. "El, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Did you even have to ask?" She smiled. Mike had this big goofy grin on his face as El's hand reached up behind his head and pulled him toward her. His lips met hers. Unlike the first time they kissed, which was uncertain and urgent, this kiss was soft and loving but still had some passion to it. After a few minutes of kissing, Mike had to breath so he pulled back but rested his forehead against hers. She scooted over in her hospital bed and made room from him to lay down next to her. He carefully laid down next to her, she put her head on his chest, and they both let out a blissful sigh. They were both finally happy… But nothing lasts forever.


End file.
